Tanjoubi Omedetou Shadoukun! Happy Birthday Shadow
by Sonic Rose
Summary: Wake up Shadow! It's your birthday and you're gonna' enjoy it! ...Shadow? ...Shadow! ... Aww come on, wake up! Flirting Shadows Timeline; consider this a reward if you read Shadow's Nightmare lol.


Daylight had filled the bedroom for quite some time now. It streamed through the semitransparent white curtains and fell across a mobian's queen sized bed. It was deceptively bright out, as a chilly air was carried in through the partly cracked window. It was hardly noticed, however, by the umber hedgehog asleep in the bed, a thick quilt coiled around him.

For once, Shadow was having a peaceful sleep, though it would soon be brought to an end. Sara never liked wearing shoes around the house, and adding that to the well carpeted floor, her foot pads made very little sound as she made her way to the bed. She looked down on his sleeping form and stroked his quills lightly a few times. '_He's so cute when he's sleeping,'_ she mused. The sky blue hedgehog also knew it was a bad idea to sneak up on Shadow, so she placed a hand firmly on his shoulder, letting his body know she was there. A moment later, she gave him a solid push, almost landing him on his back.

Waking Shadow was never a problem. His eyes flew wide open and stared at her in silence for a few moments before they became half-lidded and lazy. He made some sort of grunts that resembled speech and pulled the quilt tighter around him.

"'Morning precious." She said and sat on the edge of the bed, stroking his right ear lightly.

A few mumbled words left him which probably amounted to "Don't call me that." and he busied himself with slipping into the Quilt further like a cocoon, though he did enjoy the ear massage. _'Damn woman.. I was having such a good sleep...'_

"You know what day it is?" She asked, undaunted. She leaned back over him, letting her weight settle on him until he was forced to shed his cover enough to look at her.

His crimson eyes were not amused. "Monday." he replied in a dry monotone. He laid his head back on the pillow and tried to shut his eyes, but he knew he was far too alert to let sleep claim him again. He sighed a bit, lamenting the potential hours of rest lost to him. He had just started a vacation from work too, so it wasn't like he _had_ to get up. "Let me sleep, will ya?"

"I did." She indicated the alarm clock sitting on an oversized (at least for a Mobian) dresser next to the window, "It's 1 PM. Time to get up... but that's only a partial answer. What _day_ is it?" She smiled brightly. Sara's hands slipped the covers down by a small margin, and she proceeded to scratch under his chin. Mobians tended to enjoy these displays of affection similarly to house pets, and they could often break through predetermined sour moods- even Shadow's.

He gave a resigned sigh and let the covers slip down while Sara treated him like some forlorn puppy. "Monday, September third. It's frikkin' cold out too... Happy?"

Sara stretched out beside him on the edge of the bed and seemed to mull it over. "Sorta. What's September third?"

"The day you pester me about eating cake and ice cream and hanging out with _your_ cousin and stuff I keep telling you I don't want but you never listen." He then added, "Happy?"

"Pester..." Sara made a dismissive sound though she almost rolled off the bed. Shadow reflexively caught her and pulled her onto his chest. She gave a brief smile of gratitude. "And you always end up liking it in the end... I don't see why you can't just accept that I want to celebrate your birthday?" She gave him a quick kiss on the nose, then the forehead.

"Because I don't want to." He droned. A few thoughts ran through his mind of things he _would_ like to do however, with Sara laying on him like that. He decided to fondle her ears first since she'd seen fit to play with his. She laid down in submission to his touch, garnering a small bit of his pride recovered. The dark hedgehog then noticed a couple flecks of white in her fur that most certainly weren't dandruff. _'She made a cake... lovely.'_

"You celebrate my birthday just fine." She snuggled against him, enjoying the treatment.

"That's different.... _you_ actually want to." He subtly snatched the bead of white from her quills and sniffed at it, then took a taste. _'Yep. Icing...'_ "Don't tell me you made a cake..."

"Okay, I won't tell you." She smiled inwardly.

Shadow grunted. "You're horrible..."

"I get my sense of humor from my mom I'm told." Sara shrugged, though the smug look stayed with her as she tilted her head up to look him in the eyes. She about had him where she wanted him, at least she thought so. Who could resist those warm brown eyes? Years after the 'puppy dog' look ceased to be effective on others, her father, Charles the Hedgehog still fell for them. Shadow on the other hand, wasn't her father.

"Don't look at me like that..." He said seriously and rolled the two of them over so she was now pinned by the quilts with him over her. She kept up the meek innocent look long enough that Shadow's resolve wavered a bit. '_Cake and coffee isn't a bad idea.... I have a feeling I could use some...'_

"Shadow... please?" Sara pleaded, her brown doe-eyes still on him intently.

The hedgehog slid beside her, letting her up from the quilted prison and stretched out, much like a cat and flexing his quills. "I don't know..." he grunted after a while. He laid back down on the bed with his stomach to the blankets, but his waking temperature mixed with the sunlight streaming in created an atmosphere he'd find impossible to sleep in. "Did you _really_ have to wake me up?"

"It's after one." She kicked the blankets off and smiled. "And yes, I made you a cake," She saw his protesting gaze and tried not to smile further, "but it's just a small round one for two."

At least that was a relief... she hadn't gone completely nuts. "Fine... you got coffee ready, right?"

Sara raised a brow as a smirk clung to her face, "You _do_ know who you're talking to? I can't survive without coffee."

Shadow gave a light groan, recalling her first two weeks of 'withdrawal' after her last pregnancy. "Yeah. Stupid question." He finally rolled to the edge of the bed and grabbed a waiting pair of socks next to his sneakers. There was a slip-on pair of shoes for around the house which he very much would have liked to relax in, but with Sara's warnings, he knew he'd be in for a day of activity.

Just as his quills were beginning to bristle, her hands landed on his shoulders. "Relax." She said softly in his ear and leaned against his back, the quills quite relaxed and harmless.

"I hate you," he lied.

--------------------------------------

As Sara had promised, there was only a small cake waiting for him in the kitchen, along with a fresh pot of coffee. One really needed it at nearly 2 P.M. after all. "So where's Maria and Ash?" He inquired as he took a bite of the moist confetti cake. He caved to her probing gaze and let his face betray that he actually _liked_ the cake, though he said no such thing and rolled his eyes instead.

"Maria's over at Sonic's and daddy's taking Ash to the park. It's just you and me." Sara responded, getting a cup of coffee for herself.

"All day?" He added a couple spoons of sugar to his drink as Sara opened packets of splenda for her own.

"Actually, papa wanted to know if Ash could spend an overnight, and with Maria? It usually turns into a sleep over anyway." She shrugged.

"But Sonic's coming here?" He frowned a bit and took a good long drink of his coffee, thinking the bitter taste in his mouth was figurative as it was literal.

"Yes." She said flatly and took a seat across from him. She poured some milk in her coffee then offered him the container. "Him, Knuckles, Tails and Nack."

"...And you think this is a good idea because...?" He gave a resentful sigh, but the coffee and cake was starting to soothe him.

"Because you need to socialize with others. I go out with Amy all the time you know? I mean, sure, I don't like stopping into every fashion boutique we pass, but I enjoy her company. We do have some things in common too, like dealing with house and kids... and cranky mates." Shadow gave a sharp snort at that. "I rest my case."

"Can you promise not to do this behind my back next year?" the darker hedgehog responded thoughtfully.

"Yes." Sara smiled.

------------------

About an hour later, Shadow was walking down the street, flanked by 'the boys.' Sonic had given him his typically sarcastic and overly cheerful greetings. He was so glad Sara didn't smell exactly like him, and that his scent nicely mixed hers into something completely unrecognizable; it was thus so easy for him to forget the two were related. Tails' greeting had been cheerful and sincere, as was his personality. He kind of enjoyed the relaxed nature of the fox over his hyper buddy. Nack and Knuckles were both more reserved with their greetings, and having strong women in their life, they could sympathize with the idea of being 'forced into something.' Sonic had _no_ clue.

"So where do we go?" Knuckles asked after a while.

"You mean she didn't make a list?" Shadow inquired with an arched brow.

"We could go to a strip club." Nack offered, at which all around him gave him a look of complete and total shock. He grinned, showing off his signature fang which glinted in the light.

"You can't be serious!" Tails was the first to complain, though Sonic and Knuckles were surprisingly silent for 'married' men.

"I'm not." The lavender weasel finally blurted with a laugh. He had an excellent poker face -a reason most didn't want to play cards with him. Sighs of relief filled Tails and Knuckles, Sonic giving little response and Shadow acting as though he hadn't heard him at all.

"Bowling?" Knuckles suggested.

"Maybe." Shadow shrugged and glanced around the city streets. There were plenty of places to eat, but they'd all just eaten. He hurried past a particular pizzeria._ Starbucks? _He had coffee at home... It wasn't like he wanted to go to a strip mall or shopping center of any kind either. Sports?

"Tennis?" Tails brightened.

"Nah, we played that to death." Sonic said, rubbing a sore shoulder.

That actually didn't sound like a bad idea to Shadow. "Come on, it has to be something blue-boy won't laugh at." He said, still considering his options. A movie? He didn't think Sonic could sit still that long but there was a really creepy one in the theaters... Sara was the kind of girl who would watch a freaky movie and not have nightmares after, so he could see it with her. Then again, it would be nice to see Sonic squirm a bit.

"Quasar!" Nack finally advised. Ahh, a game of laser tag, that would be fun wouldn't it? Nack being something of a good shot, to put it mildly, latched onto the idea. Sonic's speed would also make it difficult to tag him, but with the smoke and obstacles, anything was possible.

"Okay. Quasar it is." Shadow nodded in agreement for a change and the group went running.

--------

Quasar was just the first stop of the day. The boys played for several hours, each one giving their own taunts and goals to accomplish in the successive games. Nack's former nickname as "Fang the Sniper" was put to the test, and Tails had proved that his sight scopes an homing weapons hadn't made him a rusty shot either. Of course, the most prolific matches had been on Sonic and Shadow's side. Sonic's aim might not be top notch, but his speed was, and that got him out of a number of taggings, while returning the favor. Shadow had broken his own rule and used Chaos control to teleport and spook the hell out of his victims.

After that, the group had a big lunch at Burger Buddy and indulged in an order of 'endless curly fries'. The after noon was slipping by faster than Shadow thought, and he was in good enough spirits that he was actually enjoying himself. "How about some Gear boarding next?" He actually suggested on his own initiative.

Sonic just about choked on hearing that. "Wha? You're _actually_ suggesting something that might be fun??"

"Yeah. Go fig." Shadow retorted dryly. "Any problems with that?"

"Nope." Tails replied, smiling a bit.

-----------

The house was unusually quiet with the kids and Shadow gone. Sara was spending the evening in front of the computer screen in the game room. It had been a while since she'd been on for any extended period of time, so she had a lot of email to check and found herself bombarded by instant messages.

**Ushibev:** Hi!

**SaraHedgie:** Hiya ^_^!

**Ushibev: **Where have you been?  
**SaraHedgie: **Isn't that usually my line?

**Ushibev: **LoL!

**SaraHedgie: **Well, Shadow and the kids are gone for the night.

**Ushibev: **Oh oh. What's up?

**SaraHedgie: **It's his birthday and I made him go out with the boys.

**Ushibev: **Uht oh. I heard about what happened last year...

**SaraHedgie**: *nod* It's not so bad, he agreed this time anyway.

**Ushibev: **Lonely?

**SaraHedgie: **Yeah. He's usually home by now. *sigh*

**Ushibev: **Doing anything special when he comes home?

**SaraHedgie: **I already made him cake this morning.

**SaraHedgie:** I don't really have plans...

**Ushibev: **Ahh.

Sara's ears tilted backward to catch the sound of the front door opening, and a few laughs escaping the boys, who were dropping off the birthday boy.

**SaraHedgie: **I think he just got home. TTYL.

**Ushibev: **K.

**SaraHedgie has set status to (Idle).**

She set the computer to shut down, then poked her head out of the den. "Honey?" She blinked and looked around, seeing him head upstairs. Usually he turned when she called him. '_Hmmm...'_ Sara followed them to their room and stood in the doorway. "Have fun?" she asked simply.

"Yeah." Shadow turned and sat on the edge of the bed, stripping his gloves and shoes off.

Sara's jaw slacked a bit as she took a good look at Shadow's face, he had a nice painful looking black eye. "Oh please tell me you and Sonic didn't get into it!" She frowned deeply at that.

Shadow just grinned. "Yeah." He tilted his head at his mate, noticing her distressed look. "Yes...?"

"What happened?" Her brows pursed together in concern.

Shadow thought about that a minute. "Sonic was showing off again." That was putting it mildly. The pair had been racing neck to neck on the Advanced Gear circuit over in the next county, the boys agreeing the park was way too crowded and tame for their tastes. The rocky canyon turf they flew over was more fun, but also more dangerous. In a particularly tight turn, Shadow had chosen to grind a rail, while Sonic almost ground his face. Even after the two boards crashed, they continued duking it out with the others trying to split them up once they realized what had happened. At the end of it, they both had black eyes, bruises, scratches from the rocks, and were splitting their sides with laughter over the fight. It had been a long time since the two had had any competitive fights, and this one turned out to be enjoyable for the both of them, in spite of the black eyes which acted as a sort of trophy.

"So I have to read your livejournal to find out what happened in other words?" She looked a bit disappointed at his typically short reply, but the smile told her it didn't really bother him.

"You know I don't use that." He laid back on the bed and motioned for her to join him.

Sara crawled up next to him and got a good look at the bruise. She lightly raked a finger over it and he winced in reply. "Well.. it's good you heal fast." She gave a kiss to the top of his eye-ridge which was at the edge of the shiner and he winced again. "I would like to know what happened though."

"We fought. It was fun." He paused and looked her over with his good eye. She so seldom had reasons to baby him, he was thinking the black eye might have been a good birthday gift coming from Sonic. "So, you want to go to the movies tomorrow?"

Sara blinked in surprise but nodded, "Sure, what's playing?"

Shadow had his turn to give a wry smile, "The Eye."

- The End

No really. I mean it. Don't I?


End file.
